Reinforced fiberboard box



June 21, 1955 E. M. RICHARDSON 2,711,230

REINFORCED FIBERBOARD BOX I I Filed July 1'7, 1950 I 8 INVENTOR.

United States Patent Ofifice Patented June 21, 1955 REINFORCEDFIBERBOARD BOX Edward M. Richardson, Indianapolis, Ind., assignor toEdward P. Schoenthaler, Riverside, El.

Application July 17, 1950, Serial No. 174,205

1 Claim. (Cl. 229-23) This invention relates to reinforced boxes and ismore particularly concerned with the provision of a box formed fromsheet material such as solid or corrugated fiberboard.

The present invention contemplates the provision of a reinforcedfiberboard box construction in which the side I walls of the box arereinforced by means of strips of reinforcing material stapled and/ orglued thereto. When boxes of this type are not filled to capacity andare stacked one upon the other, the side and end walls of the lowerboxes tend to collapse. In the present invention reinforcing members inthe form of strips of wood are disposed along the side walls adjacentthe top cover or flaps to resist forces tending to crush the box.

This invention further contemplates the provision of a reinforcedfiberboard box in which the reinforcing members serve to strengthen thebox longitudinally and also act to resist inward collapse of the endwalls when a load is placed upon the top of the box.

This invention further contemplates the provision of a reinforcedfiberboard box construction in which a pair of longitudinally extendingreinforcing strips are mounted in spaced relation along the upper andlower edges of each side wall panel, and if desired, the reinforcingmem-' bers on each side wall panel may be engaged on their adjacentedges by means of transversely extending reinforcing members secured tothe side panels.

This invention further contemplates the provision of a relatively strongand inexpensive reinforced fiberboard box formed from one or more blanksof solid or corrugated fiberboard cut and scored to form a standard box,a Bliss type box, or other style of box adapted to be shipped or storedin a flat condition and assembled at the point of use.

This invention embodies other novel features, details of constructionand arrangement of parts which are hereinafter set forth in thespecification and claim and illustrated in the accompanying drawing,wherein:

Fig. 1 is longitudinal sectional view taken along the line 11 of Fig. 2illustrating a reinforced fiberboard Bliss type box embodying featuresof the present invention.

Fig. 2 is a transverse sectional view taken along the line 2-2 of Fig.1.

Fig. 3 is a plan view illustrating the manner in which a blank offiberboard is cut and scored to formhingedlyconnected top, bottom andside wall sections of the box illustrated in Figs. 1 and 2, thereinforcing strip being secured to each side wall section Fig. 4 is aplan view illustrating the manner in which a blank of fiberboard is cutand scored to form an end wall section of the box.

Fig. 5 is a plan view illustrating a modified form of this invention inwhich a pair of reinforcing members are secured to each side panel ofthe fiberboard blank.

Fig. 6 is a plan view illustrating another modified form of thisinvention in which each side panel of the blank is provided with a pairof longitudinally extending reinforcing members engaged along theiropposing side edges by one or more transversely extending reinforcingmembers.

.Fig. 7 is a side elevational view illustrating another modified form ofthe invention in which the blank with reinforcing members thereon, asillustrated in Fig. 3, is folded to dispose the reinforcing members onthe outer surfaces of the side walls of the box.

Fig. 8 is a transverse sectional view taken along the line 88 of Fig. 7.

Referring now to the drawing for a better understanding of the presentinvention, and more particularly to Figs. 1 to 4 therein, a Bliss typereinforced fiberboard box is shown as comprising a blank 6 of solid orcorrugated fiberboard scored longitudinally along spaced parallel lines7, 8, 9 and 10 to define a cover 11, a side panel 12, a bottom 13, aside panel 14 and a side flap 15. The blank 6 is also scoredtransversely along the lines 16 and 17 to define end flaps 18-48 on theside panel 12, end flaps 19-19 on the bottom 13, and end flaps 20-20 onthe side panel 14. A reinforcing'rnember 21 is secured to the side panel12 adjacent and parallel to the score line 7, and a reinforcing member22 is secured to the side panel 14 adjacent and parallel to the scoreline 10. The reinforcing members 21 and 22 are preferably in the form ofstrips of wood secured to their respective side panels by means ofstaples 23 and/or adhesive, but it is contemplated that the reinforcingmembers may, if desired, be formed of fiberboard, metal or othermaterial.

The ends of the box are closed by means of end sections 24 and 25, eachof which is shown in Fig. 4 as comprising a blank 26 of solid orcorrugated fiberboard scored along the lines 27, 28 and 29 to define anend panel 30, a top flap 31 and side flaps 32-32.

As illustrated in Figs. 1 and 2 in the drawing, the box is formed from ablank 6 and two blanks 26 by securing the side flaps 32--32 of each endsection 24 and to the inner faces of the side panels 12 and 14 and bysecuring the top flaps 31--31 to the upper surface of the cover 11. Theend flaps 19-19 on the bottom panel 13 are secured to the outer faces oftheir respective end sections 24 and 25, and the end flaps 1818 and 2020provided on the side panels 12 and 14, respectively, are also secured tothe outer surfaces of the end sections 24 and 25. It is'conternplatedthat the several parts of the box may be secured together in the mannerthus shown and described by employing the use of staples 23 and/ oradhesive.

After a box has been set up, filled with merchandise, and sealed, itwill be noted that the reinforcing members 21 and 22 are disposed ontheir respective side panels 12 and 14 adjacent the underside of thecover 11 and thus act to resist crushing or collapsing of the medialportion of the box when a load is placed upon the box. To furtherincrease the strength of the box, it will also be noted that the ends ofthe reinforcing members may be extended into engagement with the flanges3232 on the end sections 24 and 25 and thus act to resist inwardcollapse of the end sections responsive to a load placed on the box. Inreinforcing boxes of standard or other style of construction, it iscontemplated that the ends of the reinforcing members may, if desired,be extended to engage against the inner faces of the end panels 30. Ifdesired, the reinforcing members 21 and 22 may be secured to the outersurfaces of the side panels 12 and 14 adjacent the upper edges of theside panels as illustrated in Figs. 3, 7 and 8.

Fig. 5 in the drawing illustrates a modified form of this invention inwhich a pair of reinforcing members 33 and 34 are secured in spacedparallel relation to the side panel 12 adjacent the score lines 7 and 8,respectively, and a pair of reinforcing members 35 and 36 are secured inspaced parallel relation to the side panel 14 adjacent the score lines 9and 10, respectively. In this form of the invention the reinforcingmembers 33 and 36 serve to resist crushing or collapse of the medialportion of the top of the box, while the reinforcing members 34 and 35act to resist collapse of the medial portion of the bottom of the box.This form of the invention is otherwise similar to the form heretoforeshown and described.

Fig. 6 illustrates a further modified form of this invention in whichone or more transversely disposed reinforcing members 37 are secured tothe side panel 12 and extend between and into engagement with thereinforcing members 33 and 34. One or more transversely disposedreinforcing members 38 are also secured to the side panel 14 to extendbetween and into engagement with the reinforcing members 35 and 36. Inthis form of the invention the transverse reinforcing members 37 and 38coact with the side panels 12 and 14 and the end sections 24 and 25 toresist collapse of the box responsive to a load placed thereon. Thisform of the invention is otherwise similar to the forms heretofore shownand described.

While this invention has been shown in several forms, it is obvious tothose skilled in the art that it is not so limited but is susceptible ofvarious changes and modifications without departing from the spirit andscope of the claimed invention.

I claim as my invention:

A box structure having a body formed entirely of flexible paperboardmaterial and including top, bottom, and side walls relatively foldableto erected condition substantially normal to each other uponlongitudinal folding scores, end wall panels closing the ends of saidbody, the longitudinal dimension of said side walls being at least twicethe width of said end wall panels, and reinforcing means consisting ofelongated wooden strips fixedly se cured to the opposite side walls inpairs, one strip of each pair being parallel to but spaced slightlyinwardly of the folding score between the top and side wall and theother strip of each pair being parallel to but spaced slightly inwardlyof the folding score between the side wall and the bottom, each of saidstrips being of a length substantially less than said side wall andterminating inwardly of the ends thereof and spaced from said end wallsa distance at least equal to the width of the strip, whereby compressivestresses applied laterally of the box will be initially absorbed by thepaperboard material at said longitudinal folding scores and will notdislodge said reinforcing means, and compressive stresses exertedlongitudinally of the box and tending to collapse an end wall paneltoward an adiacent end of said reinforcing means will not dislodge saidreinforcing means.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS972,586 Wahl Oct. 11, 1910 2,054,764 Berkawitz Sept. 15, 1936 2,071,962Babcock Feb. 23, 1937 2,175,476 Martin Oct. 10, 1939 2,262,267 BoeyeNov. 11, 1941 2,281,061 Boeye Apr. 28, 1942 2,319,641 Speir May 18, 19432,443,713 Anderson June 22, 1948 2,488,692 Talbot Nov. 22, 1949 FOREIGNPATENTS 539,612 Great Britain Sept. 17, 1941 584,503 Great Britain Ian.16, 1947

